I’ve reviewed one hundred 3D printers — these are the best features that have become non-negotiable

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• Auto Bed Leveling
• Grippy Removable Bed Surfaces
• Speed
• WiFi and Remote Access
• Cameras
• Multi Color

3D printing technology is evolving at breakneck speed, and features considered cushy add-ons five years ago are now becoming everyday essentials. 3D printer forums used to buzz with questions about necessary mods just to make their machines usable, but now people want to know if they can run their printer from a phone.

I checked my notes, and during my time at Tom’s Hardware, I have reviewed one hundred 3D printers, both resin and FDM. I’m well past that number if you also count several machines that we had to pass on due to unforeseen circumstances, or the handful of personal printers I acquired for fun.

The features I look for have evolved over the years, and many that come standard on some new printers used to require you to manually modify your machine. I started printing with the popular 2017 Creality CR10S, which swiftly became well-modded. It needed an upgraded hotend, a Raspberry Pi for Octoprint, Capricorn tubes, a custom spool holder, bed leveling wheels, and, after flinging its glass plate to the floor, a new magnetically attached flexible PEI build plate. I never added a BL Touch for auto leveling because I was so well bonded to that machine that I could tweak it on the fly with baby steps. My Ender 3 Pro has been upgraded with even more mods, including a new motherboard and a cooling system.

Modding your 3D printer was common practice back then, especially if you had an Ender. For many, tricking out a $99 machine was the whole point of getting into the hobby. When I reviewed 2022’s new “luxury” Ender 3 S1 Pro, I had to explain that the exorbitant $479 price tag was because it included about $350 worth of mods.